Everyone has a secret
by cutiegirl1040
Summary: Before the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss and Gale are running from the capitol,Oneshot, r r :


"Gale!" I scream as I run further into the woods, scaring the game away is no longer our concern. We are no longer alone. They chase us with their fancy capital weapons but we are fast and we know woods well. Eventually we lose them near the edge of the woods, a mountainous region further than either of us have ever been, still we keep running the more distance we put between them the longer will be before they find us. And they will find us.

We stop at the foot of a mountain, it's less sheltered than the woods so they spot us instantly if they sent a helicopter over the place, so we take shelter in a cave nearby, it looks cold but at least it looks safe. Gale puts down his game bag and rubs his shoulders, I feel instantly bad for only carrying my bow and arrows but it wasn't like we had time to divide up our game. He smiles and pats the ground, a sit down moving his bag away to make space. We decide that making a fire would be too risky and so cooking any meat is out of the question. I offer Gale a handful of berries from my satchel, I didn't have time to full my bag but they are better than nothing, especially since neither of us brought any water.

"so, what now?" i say swallowing the last of the berries

"we stay here until nightfall, then when it's dark enough we sneak back, if anyone asks where we were, we tell them we were with my uncle" he says calmly

"you have an uncle?" I ask

"no, but we can't exactly tell them the truth can we"

The boy has a fair point. Anyway it's almost dusk now and my mother must be worried sick, I've never been home later than dinner mainly because I bring home dinner. I imagine they've managed to round up some stale bread and cheese at least, but the truth is the thought of both of them, especially prim, starving makes me physically sick.

Soon the orange-red tint of the mountains has been replaced by dark shadows and outlines. The moon looks particularly bright as it illuminates the sides of the trees. We are all set to go when I realise. Gale almost steps out before I pull him back, we tumble over and he falls onto me, the full weight of him on my chest and his face inches from mine, I can feel his chest as it his breath quickens.

"I know you want me catnip but this really isn't the time" he says winking and I groan

The sound of helicopter draws closer and a stream of light enters the cave illuminating it. Luckily we are flat against the ground and don't seem to of attracted any attention from the pilot. Gale rolls over onto his back and off me, he sits up before I push his head back down as the cave is once again lit, I begin remembering all the things that might give us away; our location ; tracks, our smell; the fact we are missing. I don't even realise I'm shivering, but Gale does. He hands me his jacket even though I can see from the faint moonlight he is getting goosebumps. So I put on his jacket and go sit next to him, I try and warm him up with my hands but he stops me.

"Don't Katniss, just...don't" Gale says pushing my hands away

"what's wrong? Wait you called me Katniss!" I say surprised

"well it is your name isn't it" he says grumpily

"hey what's wrong?" I say

"nothing I'm just tired,okay"

"okay whatever, but can I ask you something"

"sure" he says softly

"Why did you say no?"

"why? Because I didn't love her, isn't that what marriage is supposed to be about"

"yeah sure but-"

"you think I should have married her for the money, so i could live in the mayors house spending her money that I didn't earn"

"okay fine you didn't love Madge"

"my turn then"

"fine what do you want to know"

"tell me a secret"

"I don't have a secret"

"everybody has secrets"

"well you know all mine"

"there has to be something, something you never told me"

"well-"

"tell me Katniss"

"when I first met you, when we first started hunting, I didn't really have anyone and I had a sort of crush on you when I was younger, before I knew you of course"

A grin appears on his face "you did not"

" my turn again, do you miss them"

Gales smile disappears and his take a big breath " of course, they were my family and the capital just-, my family didn't do anything wrong you know, it should be me dead, not them"

"my dad-"

"it's not the same Katniss you lost your dad, I lost everybody"

"I know I just want to-"

"this game isn't fun anymore Katniss"

There is a seconds pause, it's getting late. Gale lies down, I put my head on his chest.

"Catnip?"

"yeah" I whisper

"I wasn't completely honest earlier"

"you have an uncle?"

"no" he says "I think I said no to Madge, not because I didn't love her, more because I think I might be in love with you..."

The end


End file.
